retrieval failure : reasons for forgetting

• Retrieval failure due to an absence of cues

  A lack of cues can cause retrieval failure - When information is initially placed in memory, associated cues are stored at the same time. If the cues are not available at the time of retrieval, you may not access memories that are actually there.
• Encoding specificity principle (ESP)


  Encoding specificity principle - cues help retrieval if the same ones are presented both at encoding and at retrieval. If the cues available at encoding and retrieval are different there will be some forgetting.
• Links between encoded cues and material to be remembered

  Meaningful links - e.g. the cue STM leads to recall of lots of material about short term memory.

  There are two types of not meaningful links :

  1. context dependent forgetting (external cues)
  2. state dependent forgetting (internal cues)
• Godden and Baddeley - context dependent forgetting


  Procedure - Deep sea divers learned word lists and were later asked to recall them :

  1. Learned on land, recalled on land
  2. Learned on land, recalled under water
  3. Learned underwater, recalled on land
  4. Learned underwater, recalled underwater

  Findings - Accurate recall was 40% lower in conditions 2 and 3 than in conditions 1 and 4. Retrieval failure was due to absence of encoded context cues at time of recall
• Carter and Cassaday - state dependent forgetting


  Procedure - Participants learned lists of words and later recalled them:

  1. Learned when on drugs, recalled on drugs
  2. Learned when on drugs, recalled not on drugs
  3. Learned not on drugs, recalled on drugs
  4. Learned not on drugs, recalled not on drugs

  Findings - recall was significantly worse in conditions 2 and 3 compared with conditions 1 and 3. When the cues at encoding are absent at retrieval then there is more forgetting.
• Evaluation

  One strength is that retrieval failure cues have real world application. People often go into a room and forget what they went in that room for but when they go back to where they previously were, they remember. When we have trouble remembering something, it is probably worth making the effort to recall the environment in which you first learned it. This shows how research can remind us of strategies we use in the real world to improve recall.
• Evaluation

  One strength is there is supporting evidence. For example, Godden and Baddeley and Carter and Cassaday show that lack of cues at recall leads to everyday forgetting. This evidence shows that retrieval failure due to a lack of cues occurs in everyday life as well as in highly controlled labs. However, Baddeley argues that different contexts have to be very different before an effect is seen. This means that retrieval failure due to a lack of contextual cues may not explain much everyday forgetting.
• Evaluation

  One limitation is the problems with encoding specificity principle. Retrieval failure theory is supported by research showing that forgetting occurs when there is a mismatched of cues (encoding specificity principle). However, we cannot independently establish whether a cue has really been encoded or not so the argument for the role of cues is circular. Therefore the encoding specificity principle is not scientifically testable, so we cannot be certain that forgetting is due to retrieval failure.